Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Tennessee GOP Has Declared War on Same-Sex Families

Here in Virginia, at least for the moment, LGBT citizens are protected from the worse hatred and bigotry that Republicans and their Christofascist puppeteers due to the fact that we currently have a Democrat governor and attorney general. After the November, 2017, elections, that could frighteningly change if the Democrat base does not mobilize and get to the polls. In other Southern states, we are already seeing what the consequence for LGBT Virginians might look like and it is not pretty. Tennessee offers a particularly ugly example of the efforts being done to strip away legal rights and protections won by same sex couples through marriage and underscores the viciousness of the "godly folk" who cannot tolerate the very existence of those who do not subscribe to their myth and legend based beliefs. Sadly, among those targeted are the children of same sex couples whose security, safety and access to heath care coverage means nothing to the members of the Christian Taliban. A piece in Salon looks at the coordinated attacks on same sex families in Tennessee. Here are excerpts:

Heather
MacKenzie bought her wedding ring at Wal-Mart. MacKenzie, now 38, proposed to
her wife, Charitey, by driving to the top of Tiger Hill in Murfreesboro, a town
located near the couple’s Tennessee home. . . . The pair said “I do” in June
2015, just days after the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalized marriage
between same-sex couples in their state. The MacKenzies were wed in Nashville
in front of the courthouse under a magnolia tree.

Over a year
later, the couple are expecting a child: Charitey is 12 weeks pregnant with a
son. A trio of recently proposed laws, however, could jeopardize the future of
their growing clan. This legislation seeks to erase any hint of legal
recognition for LGBT couples in Tennessee, all but declaring war on the
families of same-sex parents living in the state.

Filed by State
Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, House Bill 1406 would prevent a couple from listing on
the birth certificate the second parent (the spouse not giving birth) after a
woman becomes pregnant through artificial insemination. The legislation would
nullify a provision of the Tennessee Code Annotated 68-3-306, which was issued
as part of the Vital Records Act of 1977. The law states, “A child born to a
married woman as a result of artificial insemination, with consent of the
married woman’s husband, is deemed to be the legitimate child of the husband
and wife.”

If Weaver’s bill
passes, Heather would not be considered the legal guardian of the child on the
way. In order to gain that status, she would have to file for a second-parent
adoption, a process that’s both costly and time intensive.

If Charitey were
to be in a car wreck, for instance, Heather could make legal decisions for her
but not for their expected child. The newborn would have no rights
to Heather’s inheritance or her insurance — an added complication for the
couple. If HB 1406 were to be passed, it would go into effect on July 1,
three months before Charitey is expected to give birth. Heather receives
health care benefits through her workplace, but if the new baby would not
be longer eligible for that coverage, who would pay for the hospital
costs?

The legislation
leaves a terrifying number of unanswered questions, few of which have been
answered by HB 1406’s authors. Although Weaver claimed in a Facebook post
that the legislation is not intended to target same-sex families, she didn’t
address the fact that her bill does exactly that.

HB 1406 isn’t
the only bill, however, that would make lives more difficult for same-sex
couples in the state. Republican state Rep. Mark Pody has refiled House Bill
892, also known as the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act. Voted down by
the General Assembly last year, the legislation seeks to override the Supreme
Court’s decision on same-sex unions in favor of the state’s definition — or
lack thereof. In 2006, 81 percent of voters cast a ballot saying that marriage
should be between one man and one woman.

In addition,
there’s also House Bill 33. Sponsored by state Reps. Janice Bowling and
John Ragan, the bill would “[require] that the words ‘husband,’ ‘wife,’
‘mother,’ and ‘father’ be given their natural and ordinary meaning” in any
legal or legislative context. According
to The Tennessean, HB 33
could have extreme, sweeping effects on same-sex couples in the state, erasing
the rights and benefits afforded to their relationships at every turn.

[E]ven if these three
discriminatory pieces of legislation are unconstitutional, it “could take years
before they are overturned,” as Sarah Warbelow, Human Rights Campaign’s legal
director, explained. In the interim, they could do enormous damage to the lives
of LGBT families. For instance, HB 33 would stipulate that if one member of a
same-sex couple dies, he or she doesn’t have to be treated as a legal
spouse possessing the same property rights granted heterosexual
couples. And because he or she wouldn’t be recognized under the traditional
definitions of “husband” or “wife,” the surviving partner could be forced
out of the home they shared.

“The real
victims will be the children of same-sex couples and of all couples who are
conceived by means of fertility clinics,” Littrell said, noting that the
artificial insemination bill would also affect opposite-sex parents. “It seems
awfully counterproductive.”

[T]hese bills
hurt everyone, they are part of a targeted legislative push to make LGBT
Tennesseans feel unwelcome and unsafe in their own state. This trinity of
anti-marriage legislation coincides with the re-introduction of a bathroom
bill, filed by Rep. Pody and state Sen. Mae Beavers, intended to prevent trans
people from using the public restroom that corresponds with their gender
identity. A similar law had been considered last year but tabled following
overwhelming backlash — much like the controversy that has followed North
Carolina’s House Bill 2.

While
LGBT people in the South have been fighting against right-wing bigotry for
decades, Melissa Snarr said it feels “brutally personal” this time. “We’re
used to that sort of thing in Tennessee, but after the election, it’s become
even more brutal,” said Snarr, who teaches at Vanderbilt University’s School of
Divinity.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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